The
New Jersey Railroad and Transportation Company was incorporated on March 7, 1832, to build a line from
Jersey City, New Jersey, to
New Brunswick, New Jersey. The line opened between Jersey City and
Newark, New Jersey, on September 15, 1834. This initial segment crossed two rivers: the
Hackensack River, and the
Passaic River in Newark. The railroad had planned to cross the Passaic at Market Street, near the commercial dock, but objections from shipping interests forced the railroad to cross at Centre Street, some upriver. This relocation meant that trains passing over the line had to make a sharp turn in Newark, and then again in
Harrison, New Jersey, after crossing. The
New Jersey Legislature authorized the construction of a bridge over the Passaic at Market Street in 1855, but subsequent litigation held up the start of construction until 1862. The new bridge opened in 1869, and the main line of the New Jersey Railroad was re-routed, avoiding the curves of the original route. The original route in Newark and Harrison, approximately long, was retained as the Center Street Branch. In 1872, the New Jersey Railroad and Transportation Company was consolidated with the
Camden and Amboy Railroad and the
Delaware and Raritan Canal Company to form the
United New Jersey Railroad and Canal Company, which was leased by the
Pennsylvania Railroad. The United New Jersey Railroad and Canal Company continued to exist on paper, and remained the owner of the line until the creation of
Conrail in 1976. The Pennsylvania Railroad continued to maintain a freight station on River Street in Newark, immediately west of the new main line and the Market Street passenger station. The elevation of the main line through Newark in 1904 eliminated the connection on the western end. The
Center Street Bridge over the Passaic was rebuilt as a double-deck bridge in 1911 to accommodate the electric rapid transit trains of the
Hudson and Manhattan Railroad (now
PATH), which traveled over an elevated right-of-way from
Manhattan Transfer to
Park Place station, a block southwest of the Center Street Branch tracks. The new
Pennsylvania Station in Newark opened in 1935, replacing Market Street station, and the Hudson and Manhattan moved its Newark terminus there in 1937 with the closure of Manhattan Transfer. The upper span was rebuilt to handle road traffic and for a time was designated as
New Jersey Route 158. Prior to 1976, service over the bridge was abandoned leaving the track in Harrison as the remainder of the line. This was conveyed to Conrail in 1976, following the
Penn Central Transportation bankruptcy. The Center Street Branch remained part of
Conrail Shared Assets Operations after the 1999 Conrail split. In 2026, much of the abandoned trackage, running through parking lots, along New Jersey Railroad Avenue was torn up. == Notes ==